It’s easy to complain about government paperwork, but sometimes something as seemingly simple as a new form can be worth much more than the paper it’s printed on. Such is the new standardized and borrower-friendly Good Faith Estimate that has been proposed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. more…
Tags: Industry News · Inman Only · Inman Real Estate · Mortgages · disclosure · good faith estimate · hud · lending · marcie geffner · mortgage · subprime
Re: ‘Forecast: Perfect storm of financial problems, but no recession‘ (March 11)
Dear Editor:
Most of the economists have been wrong every step of the way.
First they said that there would be very little housing downturn. Wrong!!!
Then they said it would not spill over into the financial sector. Wrong!
Then they said that people would still buy — so no recession. I think they are wrong again. more…
Tags: Industry News · Inman Only · Inman Real Estate · Markets & Economy · downturn · economist · housing · jobs
Re: ‘HUD rolls out new limits for FHA-backed loans‘ (March 6)
Dear Editor:
With this new economic stimulus package, buyers in areas that have higher priced homes will have many more options now to purchase homes. Hopefully this is one of things the housing market needs.
Michael Campanaro
Home mortgage consultantWayne, N.J. more…
Tags: Industry News · Inman Only · Inman Real Estate · Mortgages · economic stimulus package · fha · mortgage loans
Re: ‘U.S. foreclosure starts hit new records‘ (March 6)
Dear Editor:
Unless I am mistaken, a 0.83 percent foreclosure rate is also a 99.7 percent NON-foreclosure rate. It would be interesting to know what percentage of the foreclosure rate is actually attributable to ARMs and what portion is in fixed-rate loans. more…
Tags: Industry News · Inman Only · Inman Real Estate · Mortgages · adjustable-rate mortgage · foreclosure · lenders
Re: ‘Judge throws out ban on down-payment assistance‘ (March 5)
Dear Editor:
It blows my mind how a scam like the FHA down-payment-assistance programs could be allowed to continue. All you have to do is look at the levels of default on these loans to know that those loans raise the cost of FHA loans for everyone else. It’s a shame, but at this point FHA could easily and justifiably make changes now that will make the programs very hard to utilize. more…
Tags: Buying & Selling · Industry News · Inman Only · Inman Real Estate · down payment · fha · lending · loan
Ever search for a word but can’t seem to find it? Or try to recall a fact that won’t roll off the tip of your tongue?
Ever need to buy a vowel from Vanna White?
What’s missing from the online real estate experience?
As part of a brand analysis for an East Coast brokerage, I drilled 10 pages deep into Google’s results for "real estate" in the company’s market area. I explored every result. There were 100 Web sites in total. Of these 100 sites: more…
Tags: Agent advice · Industry News · Inman Only · Inman Real Estate · Real estate brokerage · Real estate technology · agent · buyer · davison · seller · web 2.0
Re: ‘FHA appraisers are not home inspectors‘ (March 4)
Dear Editor:
Barry Stone addresses the concerns of a certified FHA appraiser as to the scope of what is required of the appraiser in doing an FHA-ordered appraisal.
He suggests that the public may be misled when seeing an appraiser doing his or her job in thinking that it is the same as a home inspection. more…
Tags: Buying & Selling · Industry News · Inman Only · Inman Real Estate · appraiser · barry stone · fha · inspection